Blogs from Ionian Islands, Greece, Europe

We field an early morning call from Issy’s mum and her brother Tony. Issy tells her Mum that she’d get very fit going to church here in Greece, as all the churches seem to be at the tops of mountains. We’ve noticed that Greek monasteries are often on mountains, but this gets us wondering if the churches in the monasteries are only for the monks; perhaps ordinary Greeks go to other less noticeable churches at more manageable altitudes. We briefly consider ringing Issy’s Mum back to reassure her that if she moved here she’d probably still be able to go to church without needing to invest in mountaineering gear. After further careful thought we conclude that perhaps it’s not all that likely that Issy’s Mum would ever want to move to Greece, so we decide to ... read more

Issy is feeling a bit tired, so I set off on my own in our trusty little hire car. I climb the narrow road up the precipitous cliffs behind Paleokastritsa Harbour. The views are spectacular. The road is very narrow. I stop behind another car at a set of traffic lights. It seems that the road through the village in front of me is so narrow that there’s only just enough room for one lane of cars, so I wait for the lights to change so that we can take our turn. A car pulls up behind me, and a very attractive young lady jumps out of the passenger seat and crosses the road to take some happy snaps, while her partner waits patiently in the car for the lights to change. She finishes and comes ... read more

We see the view from our hotel in daylight for the first time. It is spectacular. The town of Paleokastritsa is on the west side of Corfu, and our hotel sits high on a cliff on a peninsula overlooking the stunning looking Paleokastritsa Harbour. Our hotel looks like a throwback from the 1950s. It is very big, and could almost double as something from a 1950s movie set on the French Riviera. It is very quaint. There’s a light well in our bathroom, and we try hard to ignore the slightly disconcerting noises coming through the windows from the bathroom next door. I know we’re not here to watch TV, but if we were we’d need a telescope to see it from the other side of our room; I didn’t know they made TVs this small. ... read more

July 4, 2018. Episode 4: It’s all Greek to me. Carol, Alicia, Ross and I finally made it to Athens, two and a half days after being stuck on the Croatian coast near Dubrovnik airport. We enjoyed ourselves though, as we experienced a slice of local Croatian life that we would not have otherwise seen. This included a lovely local restaurant by the water, where we had delicious octopus salad and squid ink black risotto, served by a cheeky and endearing elderly waiter. Our allocated time for Athens had been eaten up by the flight debacle, but we wanted to make the most of it. Getting through customs, etc. was surprisingly quick, then we caught a cab into town. Remember that maniac taxi driver that Ross and I had in Zagreb? Well, he was a mere ... read more

We arrived in Corfu, Greece with 9 cruise ships full of people embarking into the tiny Old Town.... read more